The Art of Magic
by FoxHound
Summary: A lot happens when magic is added to the ranger's lifes.
1. Joining the team

The Art of Magic 

The Art of Magic 

is   
Written   
by   
FoxHound 

and   
Revised   
by   
Winston 

The Rescue Rangers sit in a crowded room. Many of the people in here were in their 40s, but there were some children. The Rangers were very anxious. What was about to happen here was going to have a huge impact on their lives. Chip was the most nervous of all. All had dressed up nicely to match the others in room so they wouldn't stick out. It had been the hardest to get Dale to take that very loud shirt off, but after two days of very loudly made threats, Chip had finally won. They sat side by side in this theater style sitting arrangements, while they watched person after person, all dressed in the same clothing, cross the stage, take a piece of paper, a friendly handshake and then exiting on the other side. Finally the Rangers saw who they were looking for and they all stood.  
  
"Golly there she is." Gadget spoke first and was on her feet.  
  
"The moment we've been waiting for." Dale was next to his feet.  
  
"The lass looks great." Monty said.  
  
"She does." Chip was the last to speak, which was understandable to everyone.  
  
The young squirrel walked out on stage and took the official looking sheet of paper.  
  
The rangers were ready. They made their move. All in one they began to clap loudly and cheer. "Way to go Tammy!" shouted Gadget. "You go girl!" yelled Dale.  
  
"Congratulations Luv!" Monty yelled out. "Good going, Tammy!" came from Chip. Much buzzing came from Zipper.  
  
Tammy looked out into the crowd and saw her friends. She took the diploma from her principal and shook his hand.  
  
"You have done very well Tammy, I am very proud of you." Said the headmaster.  
  
"Thanks sir, I tried my best."  
  
"I'm sure your friends there gave you a lot of help."  
  
"Yes they did, they're the best."  
  
The principal smiled at Tammy as she walked off the stage. The rangers calmed down and sat down and watched as the rest of the teenagers receive their diplomas.  
  
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A week after Tammy graduation she was in her room with her mom and Bink. Bink was now 8 years old. She had grown a lot and had calmed down very much since their adventure with the Rangers. She sat on Tammy's bed with a not so happy expression on her face.  
  
"I don't want you to go, sis."  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this Tammy?" asked Tammy's mom.  
  
"Yes mom, I'm ready to go out into the world and be a Rescue Ranger."  
  
"What do they think?" Mom willing but not liking, packed some clothes into a suit case.  
  
Tammy smiled, *How many times have we been over this? It was always the same questions every time, at least Dale said his parents were the same way.*  
  
"Yes, they all offered to help me pack, but I told them I wanted to do this with you and Bink."  
  
"I just want to make sure… Oh my baby is growing up." Mom began to cry tears of joy and tears of sadness at the same time. Tammy went to comfort her mother.  
  
"Mom, it's ok, I'll just be down the road and I'll be home so much you won't even miss me."  
  
"I know but I'm still going to miss my little baby."  
  
"Sis, I'm going to miss you too!" Bink spoke up. Tammy put down what she had been holding and hugged her younger sister.  
  
"I know Bink, I'm going to miss you too, but you can keep coming to the ranger station just like you have been. Things aren't going to be that different."  
  
"I knowwww."  
  
"Let's finish packing, Gadget should be here soon to pick me up."  
  
The squirrels finished packing Tammy's belongings. Tammy was excited about becoming an official member, but was sad to be leaving home. She did her best to keep a good expression about leaving, but not too good of one that her mom would think that she couldn't wait to leave.  
  
*Am I ready to be a ranger? I tried really hard at sports so that I would be ready for the physical needs. I also studied a lot like Gadget said. Poor Gadget, I was so mean to her when I first met the rangers. Good thing that things have gotten better between her and me. Mostly me, Gadget was so nice.*  
  
"Ok hun, that's everything of yours... If you want to stay I won't mind unpacking all of it." Spoke the eldest squirrel.  
  
"Thanks mom, but I think I'll be ok."  
  
"Ok Tammy, if you're sure. How long before Gadget gets here?"  
  
Tammy looked at her watch. "About 30 minutes or so."  
  
"Ok, let's go have lunch one last time before you leave."  
  
"Mom, I'm not moving to Mars." *Wow, was it this bad for Dale? I'll have to ask him.* The Squirrel family walked into the kitchen and the mother squirrel fixed lunch.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"I hope it wasn't a bad idea letting Tammy join." Worried the leader of the Rescue Rangers.  
  
"Don't worry Chipper, everything will be wonderful." said the red nose member of the team, just a couch cushion came flying across the room. Dale had expected this and easily caught it. "Awww Chipper, it's not nice to throw things." Dale said as he threw the same pillow back at Chip. Chip dodged the pillow, but not the cushion that came after it.  
  
Chip stood and yelled "I declare pillow war!"  
  
The fight was on. Pillows and cushions were being thrown left to right, mostly hitting Chip and Dale, but other things in the room became victims as well.  
  
Monty and Zipper had been sitting in the dining room the whole time watching the great pillow war. Monty laughed to himself. *Chip must be the only one that doesn't realize Tammy is much better about keeping her emotions in check. Dale knows it, but he just loves to tease his best friend. Too bad for Tammy that first impressions are so hard to break.* Most of the pillow throwing had stopped and it looked like the boys had their fun and now Monty decided to intervene. "Boys, Gadget will be back with Tammy soon. Do ya want the lass to see the main room like this? You know how she acted the last time this happened?" He asked.  
  
The two chipmunks looked at each other. That was a very painful memory that neither of them wanted to remember. They looked over the main room. The couch was turned over, and pillows and cushions were everywhere. This was not good. Chip and Dale both got up and started running in different directions. They picked up things as they ran and seldom looked in front of themselves. Soon, they turned and kept going and ran straight into each other. Both of them fell to the floor. Monty and Zipper smiled at the goings-on. In a very quiet voice, Monty said to Zipper: "Who needs television when ya got Chip and Dale?"  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
As the boys were adding entertainment to Monty's meal, Gadget was in the Rangerplane with Tammy on their way home.  
  
"Golly, that sure was a tear jerking goodbye, I almost started to cry too."  
  
"I'm glad you didn't Gadget, I would have started crying too and then there would have been four of us crying."  
  
"Don't worry Tammy, your mom is just worried about you." Gadget said, wishing there had been someone to worry over her when she joined the rangers.  
  
Tammy sat back and began to think. *Wow, so now I'm a ranger. Everything is so different from when I first met the rangers. I used to be so jealous of Gadget, but now she is my best friend. I don't think she likes Chip, if she did something would have happen by now. No, Chip was just waiting till I was old enough to know what was right. What a gentlemunk he is.*  
  
"We're here." said both of the ladies at the same time. The ranger plane landed and then moved into the garage where all the other ranger vehicles were kept. Tammy and Gadget walked into the ranger headquarters to see a pair of chipmunks sit down very quickly and look away from the door. They each had an unmistakable look on their face. Gadget saw this and looked back to Tammy, and whispered "the old 'I hope they didn't see that' look." Gadget got a mischievous look on her face, she had female backup now and that could help her have a lot of fun.  
  
"What are you guys up to?" asked the inventor.  
  
"Nothing, Gadget" answered the boys a little too quickly. Gadget looked over to Tammy and Tammy understood.  
  
"Say Gadget, didn't the blue pillows used to be on the couch and the red pillow on the loveseat?" Chip and Dale each looked at the couch and loveseat and the pillows that were on them and vaguely remembered that they had the colors backwards. They then looked at each other with an "oops" look. Chip and Dale, very worried, looked back at Gadget.  
  
"Golly, Tammy, I think you're right, and I don't remember all the cushions being upside down before." More worried looks and now they both had open mouths to go with it. If only they had more time, but now "oops" went to "uh-oh".  
  
"It looks like two chipmunks have been having a pillow fight in the main room." Tammy commented.  
  
The look of "uh-oh" now went to "oh boy" and both of them looked for a place to run and hide if needed.  
  
"No Tammy, it can't be. Chip and Dale know better than to have a pillow fight in the main room. This must be our imagination. I'm sure after we finish putting all your things away in our room, everything will be back to the way it's supposed to be."  
  
"Yeah Gadget, it must just be our imagination. That's it." The two female rangers left the main room. Very quickly red pillows went left and blue pillows went right as cushions were quickly flipped into their rightful positions.  
  
Monty and Zipper had been able to watch all of this. They were now on the floor enjoying the best laugh of their lives. The two chipmunks now sat on the newly colored couch and loveseat.  
  
"Chip, I think you were right."  
  
"About what, Dale?"  
  
"About it being a bad idea for Tammy to join. I think we're in for big trouble."  
  
"Monty, Zipper, it wasn't that funny" said both the chipmunks together. Monty and Zipper continued their laughing fit.  
  
"Zipper, I think it was a great idea for Tammy to join." Monty said.  
  
Tammy and Gadget walked down the hall and Gadget put her hand on Tammy's shoulder. "Tammy, I think it was a great idea for you to join." 


	2. Supermarket Sweep

Tammy lay on her bed, she had just gotten ready to go to sleep after she and Gadget had put some of her things away. She pulled out the journal her mother had given her, just before she left. She put pen to the paper and began to write:  
  


--------------------------------------------------  
_Tammy's Journal  
Day 1_

  
Well I decided to keep a journal of all the adventures I'm going to have as a Rescue Ranger, and also all the normal things that happen everyday. Then I can write it all down and make it into a book. I always wanted to be a writer. Anyway, here it goes.  
  


No Adventures Today

  
Today is the first day of me being a Rescue Ranger. It wasn't what I was expecting. I'm not sure what I was expecting. Mum cried a lot and Bink wasn't too happy either. I know the next time I go home to see mum she will ask if I'm ready to come home. Even before I had any of my things away, Gadget and I got to tease Chip and Dale. It was so funny to see the look on their face after we caught them having a pillow fight. I'm still giggling thinking about it now. Gadget and me are roommates, I think this is going to be really great, us being roommates and all. I teased her and said we should get bunk beds but she didn't go for the idea. So my bed is on one side of the room and Gadget's is on the other. So far everything is going great. Well it's time for bed. Talk to you tomorrow.  


---------------------------------------------------

  
  
Tammy got off her bed and walked over to the desk, she put her journal away and noticed Gadget writing in a book. She smiled. _*Does Gadget write in a journal every night, too?*_ She looked over and didn't see what she expected:  
  
(25 + 2X) - 25Y = (22Y + 3X) - 33  
  
"Uh Gadget, what are you doing?"  
  
"Just some prebedtime algebra, it helps me go to sleep."  
  
Tammy's eyes crossed. _*She does this for fun?*_ "Yeah Gadget, algebra always puts me to sleep..." _*especially during class*_  
  
"Wow Tammy, you mean you like the soothing affect the numbers have on you when the answer all comes together, too?" Asked the genius.  
  
"Yeah Gadget, something like that." Spoke the confused redhead. "I'm going to go to bed now."  
  
"Me too, I'm finished." Gadget said.  
  
"Already?" asked the youngest member of the team.  
  
"Yeah, it was a very easy problem, first you..." Gadget could have been explaining Quantum physics in Pig Latin, spoken in a French accent while imitating Sean Connery for all Tammy knew. Her eyes crossed again. _*Well, now I know why I'm not a mathematician.*_ "Uh Thanks Gadget, that helps a lot." A very confused squirrel went to sleep.  
  


* * *

  
  
Tammy found that she didn't need an alarm clock, the banging from the workshop next door started at exactly 6 a.m. Tammy got out of bed and got dressed in her workout gear, a simple pair of sweat pants and tank top. She headed to the gym and worked out until the air was filled with the smell of hot cheese and acorns. She headed off for a quick shower before joining the others at the breakfast table.  
  
"What's for breakfast, Monty?" Asked Tammy.  
  
"I bet it has cheese in it." Responded Dale.  
  
"Too right mate, can't wake up without a' bit of cheese in the morning." Said the Australian mouse.  
  
"I think I have too much cheese in me now." Complained Chip.  
  
"No such thing, Chippa." Said Monty.  
  
"Yeah, Chipper." Tammy added an extra high pitch to her sentence so she could see the fur on the back of Chip's neck stand on end. _*It's so cute when that happens*_  
  
"Cheese sounds good to me." Added Gadget as she sat down at the table.  
  
"Looks like were outvoted, Dale." The leader said as he gave in.  
  
"_We're_ outvoted? I'm on their side!" Dale said as he quickly sat down beside Gadget. Chip shrugged and sat down to eat cheese something or other for the millionth time in a row.  
  


* * *

  
  
After eating breakfast the rangers got ready for another big day of saving the world.  
  
"Let's go to the police station and look for some cases." Ordered the leader of the Rescue Rangers.  
  
"Hold on there lad, we're hurting for some supplies, we need to go n' do a bit of shopping for food." Monty pointed out.  
  
Gadget's head dropped onto her hands. Tammy noticed her dismay. "What's wrong, Gadget?" she asked.  
  
"SUPERMARKET BRIGADE!!!" Screamed both of the chipmunks as they rose from the table at the same time.  
  
"That's what's wrong!" said Gadget in a not-so-happy way.  
  
Tammy looked at her friend. "It can't be _that_ bad, can it?" asked Tammy.  
  
"It can, and it is." Gadget said.  
  
Chip and Dale stood up together, and both began to sing the Supermarket Brigade theme song:  
  
_"We are dedicated to finding the lowest prices."  
"To finish shopping in the shortest time."  
"Never stopping till we find the shortest check out line."  
"We are the Supermarket Brigade!"_  
  
Gadget and Tammy had both still been sitting at the kitchen table. As soon as Chip and Dale's song was finished both of the female rangers dropped their heads into their folded arms.  
  
"Sorry for not believing you, Gadget. That was pretty horrible." Said the squirrel without lifting her head.  
  
"That's not the bad part Tammy, just wait till we get to the supermarket." Gadget said as she was dreading the future.  
  
Tammy quickly lifted her head. "It gets worse?!?"  
  
"Yeah" replied Gadget. "Might as well go and get this over with."  
  
"Hey, our theme song is a work in progress, it'll get better." Chip said.  
  
"Yeah, that's right." Added Dale.  
  
"Ok guys." the girls said as they both walked out the door at the same time. They shut the door behind them, the looked at each other and both began to laugh. Gadget and Tammy covered their mouths to muffle their laughter.  
  
"They're actually serious? Do they sing that song every time?" asked Tammy in between laughs.  
  
"Yeah, the words change each time, I don't think they can remember them." Gadget straighten up and began to speak again. "It's even funnier watching them at the supermarket."  
  
"Gadget, why don't we form our own Supermarket Brigade?" asked the mischievous redhead. Gadget put her hand up to her chin and began to think.  
  
_*To act like the boys?! Sounds like fun!*_ "Alright, let's do it." Answered the mouse.  
  
Back inside the tree house the chipmunks were in a huddle. "We have to come up with some better lines, and this time, remember them." Said Chip.  
  
"You're right, Chip. I'll start thinking of some right away." Answered Dale.  
  
"So will I." Said Chip.  
  


* * *

It wasn't long before the rangers were at the local supermarket. The chipmunks both rushed in while the squirrel and the mouse pretended to seem as annoyed as possible. As soon as Chip and Dale were out of sight Tammy looked at Gadget.  
  
"What exactly do they do?" asked Tammy.  
  
"Well, Chip pushes Dale in a cart. Dale grabs all the items on the list and throws them in the cart. I time them and give apologetic looks to everyone that works here. Then Dale gets out of the cart and they both look for the shortest line so they can finish their shopping trip."  
  
Tammy had a big smile on her face. "That sounds like fun, Gadget. Let's do it!"  
  
Monty walked up to the front of the grocery store. All the cashiers looked at Monty. The young ones smiled as they knew the humor they were about to watch, the older ones frowned, hating the example of reckless youth that was about to take place.  
  
Chip very quickly came up at Monty's side, Dale inside the cart. Dale stood up in the cart, the cart tipped over and Dale fell on Chip. Both the chipmunks quickly, but not skillfully, stood up and tried to straighten up the cart. It fell over three times before the chipmunks had finally fixed it, then they both saluted Monty.  
  
"Supermarket Brigade reporting for duty, Sir! Awaiting the shopping list, Sir!" Said both the chipmunks at the same time.  
  
"Here ya go, la..."  
  
"Wait" Tammy ran up beside Monty, pushing a shopping cart with Gadget inside. Gadget stood up in the cart with much more luck than Dale had because Tammy held the cart steady. Both of the girls saluted Monty.  
  
"The Superior Supermarket Brigade reporting for duty, Sir! Awaiting the shopping list, Sir! Said both the girls at the same time.  
  
Monty looked at the two girls, and was very amazed. _*Gadget luv playing around like th' lads? Tammy could be very good for the lass, if not I reckon this could be a mite bit funny*_ "What's this? Two Supermarket Brigades?"  
  
"Yes sir!" Tammy saluted again and Gadget barley managed to hold in her laugh. "We are the new and much better Supermarket Brigade."  
  
Chip decided that this was enough. "You can't be the Supermarket Brigade, because we are."  
  
"We are the much better version of your obsolete Supermarket Brigade." Answered Tammy.  
  
"Well lads and lasses, ah suppose this means a contest is in order." Said the Australian. Monty tore the shopping list in half. "The lasses take this 'n and the lads take this 'n. The first finished is the official Supermarkek Brigade."  
  
"Are you ready, Chipper?" Tammy looked at Chip.  
  
Chip tried to ignore the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. "Any day of the week, Tammy! Let's go!"  
  
"A'rite, line up!" Chip and Tammy lined up, Dale and Gadget both crouched very low in the shopping carts. "On T'ree you go... THREE!"  
  
Chip started pushing to the left. "How many things are on the list, Dale?" asked Chip.  
  
"20" replied Dale.  
  
"Alright, what's the first thing on the list?" asked Chip again.  
  
"Cheese" responded Dale. "Ok, that's in the other direction, so what is the second item?"  
  
"A different kind of cheese... all of the first 10 things are cheese." Responded Dale, who had expected as much.  
  
"After that it's..." Dale read off the list of items and Chip pushed the cart down the isles as fast as he could. Dale would reach out and grab an item from the shelf and put it in the cart as Chip kept pushing.  
  
"What's on the list, Gadget?" asked Tammy as she was pushing the cart as fast as her feet would move her. "Well, the first few items are produce, then some dry goods... and I'll give you one guess what the last 10 items are." Responded Gadget, hoping the cart wouldn't flip over with her in it.  
  
"Ok, we hit produce isles," Tammy turned right, "then down isle 2 for the dry goods and circle back to the front and pick up all the cheese. That'll be a perfect circle." Answered Tammy with a huge amount of confidence.  
  
"You know where everything is at, Tammy?" Asked Gadget.  
  
"Yeah." responded Tammy. "I've done all the shopping for my family for the last few years." Gadget thought about this _*We might be able to win.*_  
  
Tammy pushed the cart, Gadget and all, to the center of the produce section and then ran over to one side of the section. With Gadget still sitting in the middle of the shopping cart, she began to read off the list. "Package of sliced apples." Gadget quickly read off, knowing every second counted. Tammy quickly spotted a package of sliced apples, picked it up, threw it to Gadget. "Next." She requested. The package of apples went flying across the room straight to Gadget. At the last second Gadget lifted her hand, caught the package of sliced apples, and laid them in the cart next to her, all without looking up from the shopping list. "Slices of oranges." Tammy repeated her last steps and so did Gadget until they were finished with all the items on the list that were from produce.  
  
"Alright Tammy, that's all of it." Gadget said as she caught the last of the flying fruit. Tammy ran back to the cart, but she came back a little too fast and slipped, fell and landed on her side hard. She slowly got up on to her knees.  
  
"Are you alright, Tammy?" A very worried Gadget asked as she stood up in the cart very quickly and the shopping cart began to tilt.  
  
"I'm alright." Tammy looked up at the falling cart. "GADGET!" Tammy quickly jumped up and grabbed the side of the cart with her left hand, came up, and stopped Gadget from falling using her right shoulder and hand. Gadget doubled over on Tammy and received a face full of fluffy tail.  
  
"Are you alright, Gadget?" Asked a worried and sore Tammy as the young squirrel slowly put the cart back on all four wheels.  
  
"Muffy ymmm mffyym eeefffy yymmm..." said Gadget as Tammy finished steadying the cart.  
  
"What, Gadget? Say that again, this time in English, my Swahili needs a little work."  
  
"I said I can't talk with your tail in my face." Tammy blushed after realizing that Gadget did go face first into her tail. Gadget saw and covered. "But thanks for catching me, I should have been more careful."  
  
"Don't worry about it." replied Tammy as her rosy cheeks returned to their normal color. "Let's go Gadget, we're still in a race."  
  
"Ok, Supermarket Brigade away!" Gadget ordered, as Tammy began to push the cart full throttle.  
  
"Alright, now we go to isle two to get the dry goods. How do Chip and Dale do this?" Asked a slightly winded squirrel. "Well, Chip pushes the cart and Dale reaches out and grabs the groceries while they're going."  
  
"That sounds crazy and dangerous, let's do it." Tammy turned left down isle 2.  
  
"Left side, Tammy." commanded the mouse in the shopping cart. Tammy pushed the shopping cart down the left side of the isle, and slowed down a little bit. Gadget reached out and easily grabbed the first item on the list.  
  
"Ok Tammy, that was easy, speed up a little." Replied the blond mouse.  
  
"Alright, here we go." Tammy speeded up and Gadget reached out and quickly caught the next two items. "Alright Gadget!" cheered the young squirrel.  
  
"Thanks Tammy... now down the right side." Replied the inventor. Tammy obliged and started down the right side of the isle, Gadget quickly caught the next and the next after that.  
  
"Ok Tammy, that's everything except the cheese." Announced Gadget.  
  
"Ok Gadget, were heading to the dairy section up front, then."  
  
The dairy section of this store was located near the front of the store, very close to the check out lines, but off the side to the left. Chip came pushing a shopping cart with a very happy chipmunk who was surrounded by boxes and bottles.  
  
"Nice going, Dale." Chip said as he rubbed his head. "You almost dropped the entire drink section on my head."  
  
"Hey, only one fell." Replied Dale.  
  
"Yeah, IT fell right on my head." Replied Chip.  
  
Dale tried to hold in his giggles. "Well I stopped the rest from falling." Responded the red nose chipmunk.  
  
"Forget it, now let's get the cheese and prove we are the Supermarket Brigade."  
  
"Alright, hold the cart still while I get out, and don't let it fall this time." Responded the red nose chipmunk. Chip held the cart steady and Dale jumped out. Then the chipmunk boys started gathering different kinds of cheese. Throwing them over their shoulders into the cart, they quickly finished their job.  
  
"Alright, that's all of it, let's go!" Chip said as he turned the cart toward the direction of the check out lanes.  
  
"Ok Gadget, start reading off the cheese list so well know what to get." Said Tammy as she was pushing the shopping cart. Gadget looked down and began to read off the list.  
  
Chip came pushing the shopping cart as Tammy came around the corner just as quick.  
  
**!*!*CRASH*!*!**  
  
A lot happened in just one second. The bottom of Tammy's cart got caught on Chip's cart. Tammy, who wasn't prepared, kept pushing her cart. This pushed the back of the cart up into the air. This made Gadget the first flying mouse in recorded history. She didn't fly far as Dale very skillfully caught her with his face. The red nose chipmunk and the blonde mouse went flying into the bread racks behind them, which sent bread flying in every direction. Tammy's cart, which was still moving just as fast as before, began to turn to the right. This sent Tammy head first into Chip. The two of them and their shopping carts went flying back into the cheese section, knocking almost everything over.  
  
Monty was near the front of the store, explaining to one of the cashiers how he was Shanghaied in Shang-hi on a Junk full of Junk and how he let that happen twice, when he heard a loud crash. Zipper buzzed at Monty.   
  
"Yeah lad, it probably was them, we better go check it out." Monty and Zipper started toward the area where they had heard the loud crash. What Monty saw was a site so horrible he couldn't believe it.  
  
"No! NO! NOOOO! Anything but that, oh the horror." Replied a tearful Monty at the horrid sight. Zipper looked over at what was in front of them and then back to Monty. He buzzed at Monty. "No lad, it's not J'ST ch'ese, it's so much more." Replied Monty. Zipper buzzed in frustration.  
  
Tammy slowly sat up and rubbed the right side of her head. "Owww, what happened?" asked a pained Tammy. Chip sat up and rubbed the left side of his head.  
  
"You weren't watching where you were going, that's what!" replied Chip.  
  
Tammy jumped up. "ME? This is all your fault!" yelled Tammy.  
  
Chip jumped up. "WHAT!? Are you Cuh-razzy?" The two began to bicker so fast that only Dale could have kept up.  
  
Gadget slowly sat up. "Golly, what happened?" She looked beside her and saw a sleeping Dale. She looked to her right and saw Monty trying not to cry too much. She looked to her left and saw Tammy and Chip head to head bickering so fast she couldn't keep up.  
  
_*Tammy can do that too? Now I'm going to need to invent that Chipmunk chatter to English translator after all.*_ Gadget slowly shook Dale. "Dale, wake up." Gadget said.  
  
"But mommy, it's Sunday, let me sleep in." replied beddy-by Dale.  
  
"Wake up, Dale." Replied Gadget a lot louder this time.  
  
"What?" Dale said as he quickly sat up.  
  
"What are they saying?" said Gadget as she pointed toward Tammy and Chip.  
  
Dale looked over at the two and then looked back at Gadget. "Chip is saying 'am not' and Tammy is saying 'am too'." Dale looked back at the two arguers and yelled "You're both wrong!" Tammy and Chip both looked at Dale and said simultaneously, "What do you know!" and went back to bickering without missing a beat. Dale looked back at Gadget. "Now Chip is saying 'am too' and Tammy is saying 'am not'."  
  
Gadget stood up. "Golly, thanks Dale." _*I don't think I need to make that translator after all.*_  
  
"What is going on over here?" A thunderous female voice came as the store manager came around the corner. A small female mouse in a pair of glasses two sizes too big for her face came with her. Tammy and Chip both stopped arguing. Chip saw the store manager and a look of fear came over his and Dale's face at the same time. Both had been in this situation before (on a weekly basis) and neither wanted to be back here.  
  
"Just look at my store. Why is it you save the rest of the world but you try to destroy my store every week?" Replied a very angry looking store manager. All the rangers looked down to their feet except Monty. "Come now lass..." Monty began but was interrupted by the store manager. "And you, you're the oldest here, you should be trying to set a good example for these kids."  
  
"Kids? I'm 27." Replied Chip, regretting what he said before he finished saying it.  
  
"Yeah, me too!" Agreed Dale, not regretting a thing he said.  
  
"Do you think that makes it any better? There are 5 year olds in this store that behave better than you do."  
  
"Miss, the lads and lasses will clean up the mess they made and pay for all the damages, right??" Monty looked at the other rangers and gave an ill look, he didn't like the treatment he just received for helping the boys.  
  
"Yes." replied the four rangers as they all nodded their heads.   
  
"It's the least they can do!" The store manager looked over at the young mouse in glasses and said "Get um' some mops."  
  
The mouse simply replied "yes ma'am." and the two left the area. When the two were far enough away that they couldn't be heard by the rangers the young mouse looked at her employer. "Ma'am, if they're so much trouble, why do you keep letting them come back?"  
  
Her employer looked down at her. "What fun would we have here if they didn't come? Besides, I like making the big cute guy squirm." Replied the older of the two.  
  
"Oh" was all that came from young mouse.  
  
The rangers spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up their huge mess. After they finished they slowly finished up their shopping.   
  
"I can't believe we didn't get to look for any cases today." Replied an annoyed Chip as he was putting the groceries in the trunk of the ranger plane.  
  
"Well lad, if ya wouldn't have made such a mess and took so long cleaning it we might have." Replied Monty.  
  
"Hey it wasn't my fault, it was..." Chip was cut off.  
  
"Don't you go blaming this on me, it was all..." Tammy was cut off.  
  
"ENOUGH!" replied Dale as he came walking behind them. "I didn't even do anything and I had to clean it up, and I have a headache too!" Gadget came up behind them and didn't say a word, she just put her bag into the trunk of the ranger plane. The rest of the rangers followed suit and soon they were home and unpacked their foodstuff. Nothing important happened the rest of the night.  
  


--------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
_Tammy's Journal  
  
No Adventures Today_

  
  
We were going to look for cases today, but Monty said we need some supplies. So we went to the supermarket. Me and Gadget raced Chip and Dale. We would have won, but we ran straight into Chip and his cart and made a giant cheese sandwich out of the cheese and bread section. It was all Chip's fault and he won't admit it. It was fun to argue with him though ^_^. We had to clean up the mess and when we were done it was too late to look for cases. Well that is all that happen today, so I'll talk to you tomorrow.  
  


--------------------------------------------------------------------

  
  
Tammy got off her bed and put her journal away. She did her best not to look at what Gadget was writing because her poor head hurt enough as it was. The young redhead went to sleep.  
  


* * *

  
  
The next day was Wednesday and it was a free day for all the Rangers. Tammy had been keeping early hours so that she could get up early with the rest of the rangers. She was the only one to get up early today, except for Gadget. She spent her days off the same way she spent every day, in her workshop. _*Guess I'll go workout in the gym.*_ The other rangers didn't wake up (if you call Dale's zombie like state awake) until after the sweaty 18 year old was in the middle of her shower.  
  
Tammy walked out after getting dressed. She wasn't dressed much different than when she first met the Rangers. She wore an untucked pink button-down shirt and blue jeans. Tammy walked out into the main room and saw two chipmunks sitting on the couch watching the morning news. _*Lets see, There is one wide awake chipmunk looking like he would be much happier looking for a case. The other semi-conscious chipmunk looks like he would be much happier if he was in the middle of a 24 hour and 5 minute horror movie fest. There is a very large mouse and a fly in the kitchen cooking something with a lot of cheese, they both looked like they would be much happier if... well, not much could make them this happy. The loud amount of banging announces that a VERY happy Gadget is in her workshop doing what she loved best and nothing could make her happier. So with Chip I get cases, with Dale I get Horror movies, with Monty and Zipper I get food, and with Gadget I get... a headache. Nice to see the diversity.*_ Tammy smiled to herself and fixed something to drink and sat down on the loveseat opposite to the boys.  
  
The rangers watched the news and early morning TV. Nothing special was happening in the world. Dale went outside and Chip went to his room. He came out with a couple of books. The Squirrel walked over to the hat and coated chipmunk.  
  
"What'cha reading, Chipper?" The hair on the back of Chip neck stood on end. Even after all these years he still couldn't handle the way she said that.  
  
"I'm reading my favorite books." Said the natural leader.  
  
"Sureluck Jones?" Sung the teasing squirrel.  
  
"Yes, it is. You should read some of these books. It'd help you learn deduction. You could use that as a Rescue Ranger." The Indian Jones Fanboy pushed a book across to The BackSquirrel Boys fangirl. Tammy looked at Chip. _*Wow he never lets these books out of his sights, he must really like me to let me read one.*_  
  
Chip looked at Tammy. _*I hope this keeps her busy.*_  
  
Tammy picked up the book. _*It's a hardback, of course I don't see Chip reading anything in a paper back.*_ Tammy flipped through the pages. _*Wow, it's very old but the pages are in good shape. He's really taken care of it.*_ Tammy looked down to see that Chip's attention was back to his book. _*He sure looks like a lot of fun to be around while he's reading.*_  
  
"Chip, how can you read with all that banging and sawing coming from Gadget's workshop?" Tammy asked.  
  
"You get used to it." answered the veteran Rescue Ranger without even looking up. _*I guess you really can get used to anything.*_  
  
"I think I'll head off to the park, Chip."   
  
"Alright." answered a preoccupied chipmunk.   
  
Zipper then flew up beside the young squirrel. "Buzz Buzz Buzz."  
  
Tammy looked at the smallest member of the team. "Sure Zipper, I would love the company. Hold on, I'll go get my stuff." The braided red haired girl then left. Tammy walked into her and Gadget's room. Most of her stuff was still in boxes. She opened one box and pulled out the backpack she had used for school. She put the book in her backpack. After raiding the kitchen for a snack to have for lunch, and she and Zipper were off for the park.  
  
Dale stood outside the Ranger headquarters with a young mouse. The mouse was about his age. A little taller than Dale and had brown fur. He wore a pair of black jeans, and a black shirt under his black jacket. Black boots toped off this colorful arrangement.   
  
"Woozers Mike, I haven't seen you in a long time." Said Dale.  
  
"Great to see ya' Dale." spoke the young mouse in a southern accent. "How ya' been?"   
  
"I've been great Mike, what have you been up to?" asked Dale.  
  
"Not a whole lot Dale, I'm in a magic show. Is it true 'tat your in 'da Rescue Rangers? I seen your name in the papers, but I didn't think it was you, till I seen Chip's name in it too. What are the odds that any other Chip and Dale hang a'round each other." Asked the excited southerner.  
  
"Woozers, you're in a magic show? That's great. What kind of magic do you do? Card tricks? Sawing a woman in half? Great big acts, like making the statue of liberty disappear? Or..." The chipmunk spoke so quickly that few could understand him.  
  
"Easy there fella, slow down for us southern folk. I do some big tricks, but notn' like making Miss Liberty disappear. More like making me disappear. Now what about you? Are you in the rangers or not?" Asked the southern remembering why he missed Dale so much.  
  
"Yeah, Chip and me started the Rescue Rangers with Monty, Zipper and Gadget, but that's not as cool as being a magician." Said the chipmunk going over a mile a minute.  
  
"I'm gonna' go practice now, ya wanna come? You can tell me 'bout the rangers on the way." Asked the young mouse.  
  
"Woozers, that sounds great. Let's go." Answered the rescue ranger.  
  
A young redhead in braids and a fly were coming down the ranger tree. Tammy and Zipper had been hidden to the side and watched Dale and the unknown mouse. Zipper buzzed around Tammy. "I don't know Zipper, and I haven't seen him before either." Tammy looked down at the two mammals as they continued to talk. Zipper buzzed around Tammy. "Yeah Zipper, they seem to be friends, why haven't we ever seen this mouse before?" The fly buzzed around Tammy. "I don't know either, Zip."  
  
As the two Rescue Rangers were talking, the chipmunk and the mouse began to walk off toward the city. "You wanna follow them?" asked the new member. Zipper buzzed in protest. "Aww come on Zipper, it's not spying on him, it's uhhhh... stealth training for me. We can see how long it takes for him to figure out we're following him." Tammy said, thinking quickly.  
  
The unimpressed fly buzzed back at the young squirrel. "We can go to the park after this Zipper, I don't think Queenie is going anywhere." Zipper blushed and then teasingly buzzed at Tammy. "My hair is not that bright, Zipper! He won't see us. Come on, Dale would do it to us." Zipper looked at his young friend, he had wanted to follow Dale the whole time, but felt he should be the voice of reason, or at least tease the youngest member before he gave in to her idea. Zipper buzzed an "OK" and the two began to follow the mouse and chipmunk at a good distance. 


	3. Catch me if you can

Dale was walking by a mouse, just a couple of years younger than him. The mouse was a little bit taller than Dale, and was dressed in black jeans, a black shirt and black jacket. The young mouse spoke slowly and with a southern accent. Dale, however, was speaking the complete opposite - so fast that Mike could barely understand his old friend.  
  
"Is it far, Mike?" asked Dale.  
  
"Not really. 'bout a mile or so." Responded Mike.  
  
"Thats not far? That'll take a long time to walk." Replied the chipmunk.  
  
"Dont worry Dale, its a city mile, not a country mile." Assured the mouse.  
  
"Huh? whats the difference, Mike?" asked Dale, who thought both were the same time. They passed a very large tree to their right.  
  
"Well, most southerners judge distance using time. How long it takes to get there. So we're not always the best at knowing how many miles it is from one place to 'nother. So we think it takes an hour to get there and just say its a mile, cause were not sure." Responded the southerner as he looked back over his shoulder  
  
"Woozers, so how do you keep from getting confused in the south?" asked the one with the red nose.  
  
"We just ask how long it takes to get there, only yankees ask how far things are. Took a bit for me to get used to when I first moved here, some time back."  
  
"Oh" responded Dale.  
"Ok Zipper, we start down the tree and head to that tree on the right side. Is that a good idea?" Zipper buzzed his suggestion to Tammy. "Alright Zip, well wait a few seconds and then start." Tammy waited the longest seconds of her life, and then she and Zipper began. Tammy came crawling down the ranger tree on all fours. Zipper slowly flew down. Zipper pointed to a tree out of the way and then curved his finger to the tree they wanted to go for, meaning for Tammy to take a curve instead of doing a beeline to the target tree. Tammy understood and followed his instructions and went right after she made it to the bottom of the tree. Zipper pointed to Dale and the mouse then to the tree and then to them. Tammy understood that Zipper wanted to keep the tree in the line of sight between them and Dale, so that it would be harder for them to be seen. Soon Tammy and Zipper made it to the base of the tree and waited.  
"Tell me a bit about the other rangers." Said the southerner.  
  
"Ok." responded Dale. He pulled a picture out of his pocket and handed it to Mike. Mike took the picture and looked at it. "You know me and Chip. Chip is the leader."  
  
"Not surprising." Responded Mike. "When did Chip get the hat?"  
  
"We both feel into a bucket of soapy water, and the hat fell in there too. It shrunk and Chip liked it, so he kept it." responded Dale.  
  
"Kinda odd, but since when did the two of yall make sense?" responded Mike. "Whos the big guy?"  
  
"Oh, that is Monterey Jack. Hes from Australia. Hes been all around the world and has all these great stories... Or at least they were great the first 5 times he told them. These last few million have been a little hard on the rest of us." Responded Dale, not nearly as excited at the end of his sentence, as he was when he started it.  
  
"I can imagine." Responded the sympathetic mouse, having known a few like this in his life.  
  
"That fly is Zipper. Hes really fast and very brave. Hes flown into some really dangerous situations and saved us all." Dale took no note of the large bush they were passing as he spoke of the brave fly.  
  
"Wow, he sounds impressive." Responded Mike.  
Zipper pointed at Tammy and buzzed for her to decide how they were going to do this run. Tammy nodded. _*Well, Dale and that guy just passed a large bush, there on the left is the fountain and there really far to the right is a swing set.*_  
  
"Alright Zip, I have an idea. We go left for the fountain and then back right to the bush they are passing now, and then we go for the buildings. How does that sound?" asked the youngest member of the Rescue Rangers.  
  
Zipper buzzed an almost to Tammy. Zipper pointed to Dale and his friend and then to the building they were walking to. He pointed his finger to the left and then looked at Tammy to see if she could figure it out.  
  
Tammy looked to see what else she could have thought of. It took her a second and then she understood. "Oh, since they're going to those buildings, we wont have to go to the bush, we can stay on the outside of the fountain to the left and then head to the buildings. Hey, that'll save time and keep us from being seen." Replied Tammy and Zipper gave her a thumbs up. The two of them waited until they felt it was safe and then started on the plan Zipper had help Tammy come up with.  
"And that one..." Dale pointed to the blond mouse. "That's Gadget. Shes very beautiful."  
  
"Glad to see your eye sight hasnt gotten any worse since last I seen ya." Teased Dales friend.  
  
"Shes very smart too. She can make anything from anything. She used a bleach bottle and a balloon and made the ranger plane. She used a flash light and made the ranger wing. They both fly. She took a skateboard and an electric fan and made the Ranger Mobile."  
  
"Ranger _mobile_? Did you come up with that one? Kinda like the Bat _mobile_?"  
  
"No, Gadget made the name up." Responded Dale as they went into a very large and well lit alley. Mike and Dale had both come down this alley several times, and both knew it to be safe, although this is the first time they and went together.  
  
"Well I guess she shares your sense of humor then. I bet shes into comic books and late night horror movie fests like you." Mike wrongly guessed.  
  
"Nah, she mostly just stays in her workshop all day. Unless we're out looking for cases or trying to solve a case. She seems like hanging around Tammy." Answered Dale.  
  
"Whos Tammy? You've ran out of animals in this pic." Responded Mike.  
  
"Oh, I need to get a new picture of everyone. Tammy just joined a few days ago." Responded Dale.  
  
"What does she look like?" asked Mike.  
  
"Well she is a squirrel, she has red hair and she's eighteen. We met her about four years ago. Chip caught her and then she had a huge crush on him and wouldn't let up. Then there was this huge adventure because of her."  
  
"Tell me about it." Mike said as he stopped by a rodent size hole of a very old building and Dale began telling the first misadventure of Tammy and the rescue rangers.  
Tammy and Zipper made it to the building without much trouble. Tammy was having a lot of fun. This was a game. Dale was no threat if he caught them, and the worst that could happen is that Dale would be mad at them, but Dale never stayed mad for long. This other guy seemed nice too. So this made this fun and good training. Zipper was a patient teacher so that made it all that much better. Tammy decided to take the front again.  
  
"Ok, we cross here and stay to the left wall, that way we keep that dumpster in the line of sight between them and us." Tammy said as she looked to Zipper for approval. Zipper gladly gave it to his quick learning student. Tammy and Zipper began to hug the wall of the alley. This was much harder for Tammy than for her smaller friend. All Zipper had to do was fly slowly near the wall and he kept out of sight. The two started down, slowly at first. Tammy had seen that Dale and his friend had stopped in front of a rodent size door. It wasnt long before they made it to the trash dumpster. Tammy stood to where she and Zipper could see Dale and the unknown mouse, but not the other way around.  
"Wow, that's quite a story. Wish I had been there to see the look on ol' Chip's face." Responded Mike as he laughed after hearing the 'Misadventures in squirrel sitting'.  
  
"Yeah, I kept running around saying 'Isn't chipper wonderful?', and Monty was even saying 'Isnt chipper heroic?'." Responded a very energetic Dale.  
  
"That sounds like you, Dale. You and Chip never laid off of each other in school, didnt figure you would change much. So, you ready to go in?"  
  
"Sure." responded Dale.  
  
"Are you going to invite your friend in? Be kinda hard to get in once the door is locked." asked Mike.  
  
"Huh?" responded a confused Dale.  
  
"Your friend that's been following us since we left you headquarters. Back there behind the dumpster now, you can go look." Responded Mike.   
  
Dale, very confused, looked at his friend and then started for the garbage dumpster. _*What is Mike talking about? Nobody is following us. I think I would have seen...*_  
"Aughh!!" came from a very surprised squirrel, and a surprised fly buzzed something similar.  
  
"Where did you come from?" asked an equally surprised Dale. Zipper and Tammy both sputtered out "Uhh... well, we uuhh..." While a much humored mouse began to walk toward the rangers. _*Dale hasnt changed much, He doesnt seem mad, just surprised. Two of them??? I only seen the girl!*_  
  
"Hello, y'all must be the other rangers. You must be Miss Tammy." Mike nodded to Tammy. "And you must be Zipper." Mike nodded to Zipper. "I've heard a lot of great things about both of you. My name's Mike, I went to high school with Chip and Dale. I havent seen either of them in years."  
  
Zipper flew up to Mike and buzzed a question to him. Mike, with a confused look on his face looked over to Dale and then to Tammy.   
  
"Would y'all mind translating that?" asked Mike.  
  
"He wants to know how you saw us." Said Tammy, embarrassed that she had been seen on her first stealth mission as a ranger.   
  
Mike looked back at Zipper. "well, I didnt see you, little guy, and I wouldn't have seen Miss Tammy if she was a brunette. Red doesn't blend in with trees very well. I just happen to be looking toward y'alls home when she came out."  
  
Zipper quickly flew over to Tammy. "Don't say it, Zipper." Responded Tammy before Zipper had a chance. Zipper buzzed a "Say what?"  
  
"Told you so." Tammy crossed her hands in annoyance.  
  
Dale looked at the two of them with a confused look on his face. "Told you so about what?"  
  
"That my hair was too bright to not be seen by you two." Responded an annoyed Tammy.   
  
"Y'all did a good job. If not for already knowing that y'all were following us, I wouldnt have had a clue." Lied Mike, hoping to spare her feelings and his own for not knowing Zipper was following him.  
  
"Where are you two going?" asked Tammy, already feeling a little better knowing that.  
  
"I was about to show Dale inside. Do you wanna come too?" asked Mike.  
  
"Yeah Mike is this great magician with all these great tricks and he makes things disappear and then he saws a woman in half and then he disappears and..." Said Dale so fast that everyone else only caught the first 5 words.  
  
"You still have more energy than a flock of hummingbirds on a caffeine rush." Responded Mike.   
  
Tammy and Zipper both laughed and then said and buzzed a "sure" to Mikes invitation.  
  
"Well, let's go." Mike started walking to the door that he and Dale were standing next to only a few moments before. Once they reached the door, Mike unlocked it and they all entered.  
  



	4. Now all we need is a padded room

The three rangers and Mike walked into the well decorated living room. The inside was much nicer than the outside. Many couches and love seats were in a circle around a large table, and on the wall was a large (for rodents, anyway) chalkboard. 

"Would ya'll like something to drink?" asked Mike. 

"Sure." responded the rangers. Dale was always thirsty, and Tammy and Zipper were very thirsty after playing super spy and getting caught. Mike got drinks for his guests. 

"Where is everybody?" asked Dale, using his limited detective ability to figure out that one person would not need so many places to sit. 

"Well, some are up and about, on a walk like I was, some might still be sleeping, and some are still up from last night." Replied the magician. "The last of which will be my best friend K.C." 

"Why is everyone on such different times?" asked the youngest ranger. 

"Well, you don't have to practice magic at a certain time of the day." Answered the mouse. "I'll go see if K.C. is still up." Said Mike as he walked out of the room. Mike soon returned to the front room with another mouse about his own age. The half awake, half asleep mouse had curly hair that was shoulder length. 

"What is it, Mike? I was about to go to sleep." Said K.C. 

"You're going to sleep now? It's not even noon yet, you'll lose your nickname if you keep that up." Responded Mike. 

"Wowie, you have a nick name? How could you lose it by going to sleep now?" Asked the chipmunk. 

"They call me rock star because I'm up till noon from the day before." Responded K.C. as he yawned. 

"Well, Dale, looks like Chip was wrong, you don't stay up later than everyone else in the world." Said Tammy as she giggled. Dale grinned, immediately seeming very proud to only be the second worst in the world at something, Tammy began laughing even more at that. 

"You do seem very tired, K.C... What's wrong?" asked the magician. 

"Kary locked the straight jacket on me too tight. Took me a long time to get out." Yawned the mouse again. 

"I told you if you kept picking on her she was going to do that." said Mike. 

"I'm not that bad." replied K.C. 

"You don't think she was joking when she said you should try a decapitation trick, do you? I think she was serious and would like to make sure it was real." Replied Mike as he was teasing his friend. 

"Uh... What were your names?" Asked K.C., changing the subject. Each of the rangers introduced themselves to K.C. and Tammy translated for Zipper. "It's nice meeting each of you, but I'm going to sleep before I pass out at your feet." K.C. told them. Everyone said goodnight, except Mike, who replied with his usual "Night, axle." 

"Wowie Zowie, you can get put in a straight jacket and get out?" asked Dale after K.C. left the room. 

"Yeah, it takes a lot of practice, but it's easy once you know how. Unless you're annoying the person who puts it on you..." 

"Can I try?" Asked a very excited Dale. 

Mike smiled. "Sure, our senior English teacher always said you belonged in a straight jacket." 

"Where did she say _you_ belonged?" Tammy asked Mike. 

"She said I belonged in 6th grade grammar class. I wonder what she meant by that." Said Mike with an odd look on his face. "Anyway..." Mike walked over to a closet, opened it and came back with a straight jacket. A very happy and excited Dale put the jacket on. Mike had to remind him you wore these jackets with the hooks on the back. After Dale had put the jacket the right way around, Mike began to secure all the braces into place. He ignored Tammy's cries of "Tighter!", but eventually he did glare at her and say "You're next..." before going back to his work. It wasn't long until Mike was finished. 

Dale began to try to get out of the straight jacket. It wasn't nearly as easy as it looked on TV and Tammy and Zipper both started laughing, which didn't help any. The more Dale struggled, the more the two other rangers laughed, which only made Dale struggle more. Mike just smiled, remembering the first time he'd had to make his way out of one. Dale sat in a chair to help his balance, but with all his struggling all he managed was to fall over backwards in the chair, which caused a huge uproar from Tammy and Zipper. This display went on for another 30 minutes, while more innocent furniture was knocked over. Mike righted up each piece as it fell, while Tammy continued to laugh, more to tease Dale than over the idea that this was still funny. Zipper had long since stopped. 

"Ok, I give up." Replied a very winded and disappointed Dale after shrugging and sitting down. 

"Don't worry, Dale, nobody gets it the first time. Some give up way sooner than you did." Mike said as he helped Dale get out of the straight jacket. 

Mike and his guests sat and talked for some time after that, Zipper asked questions and Tammy translated and asked some of her own, mostly about what Chip was like when he was in high school. Mike was more than willing to answer all their questions, except the ones Dale asked about how this or that trick was performed. 

"Wow, it's a lot later than I thought." Said Tammy when she glanced at a watch with no band hanging on the wall of Mike's room. 

"You're right." agreed Dale. 

"Yeah, I'm supposed to meet up with some of the others soon, so I'll have to tell ya'll good bye for now." Mike said, noticing the time. 

"Yeah, we have to go too, Zipper wants to go stare at... Ermm, I mean, meet someone at the park." said Tammy with an evil silly smile on her face. Zipper quickly flew around Tammy's head a few times and playfully tackled her in the back of the head while they both laughed. 

"Wowzers, it is late. Mike, can you come to the ranger headquarters sometime? Chip would like to see you again too." Said Dale. 

"Sounds like a great idea, but it may be a couple of days or so before I can get a chance." Replied Mike with a smile on his face because his old friend had invited him over. 

"Ok, that sounds great, we'll see you then." Replied Tammy as she and Dale both got up. Mike walked his guests to the door. 

Dale and Tammy started walking away from Mike's home and toward the park and the Ranger's headquarters. Both were in the same direction from Mike's home. 

"Are you going to come to the park with us?" asked Tammy as Zipper sat on her shoulder. 

"No, I'm going to go to the comic shop and then go home and read my new comics." Replied a very happy Dale. 

"Okay, we'll see you back at headquarters, then." Tammy said as she started to walk a different way than Dale. 

Dale very quickly made his way to the comic shop. He already knew which issues would be out this week, but he still stared at all of them. After making his purchase, he went back to the Rescue Ranger head quarters. After Dale entered the Ranger Headquarters, Chip quickly got his attention. 

"Where are you going?" asked Chip in his stern leadership voice. 

"I'm going to my room to read my comics." Replied Dale holding up his new comics. Chip quickly took them from him. 

"You're going to your room alright, but you're going to clean your side! It looks horrible! You can have your stupid comic books back when you're done." Chip went and sat back down to read his own well worn book. Dale walked, grumbling, back to the room him and Chip shared. Dale grumbled while he cleaned, mostly just shoving everything out of sight. Soon, however, the door opened and Chip yelled, "And don't just shove everything under the bed!", then shut the door again. Dale began to put everything where it belonged, which took much longer than shoving it under the bed. He began to grumble and mumble some more. 

"Clean my room! He should clean it, he's the one who complains that it's dirty, not me. When I die I want to be cremated and I want my ashes spread all over Chip's bed... that way he can clean up after me one more time!" Said the solo chipmunk while he cleaned up his room. It took him most of the afternoon to finish, much longer than if he had just shoved everything aside like he wanted. Once he finished, he walked into the main room. 

As he did, Tammy came in the front door, and a bucket of water fell on her. 

A lot happened in the next second. Tammy's eyes instantly closed her eyes from the shock of the cold water. Her first thought was that this was one of Dale's jokes. This ruffled her wet fur. As she opened her eyes, her first thought and first sight just so happened to be of the same Chipmunk. _*Oh, just happened to be here, huh?*_ She thought angrily. Dale thought this was all very funny and wondered why he didn't think of it first, then he remembered as Tammy tackled him into the sofa behind him, knocking it over and landing them both behind it by a small margin. 

"Did you think that was funny? Why did you do it?" asked a very wet and angry squirrel who was on top of a bewildered and scared chipmunk. 

"_I_ didn't do it!" replied Dale. 

"Really..." said Tammy as she picked up a pillow in each hand. "What were you doing just before now?" Demanded Tammy, not believing one word of what Dale said and not thinking anything he could say would ever convince her. 

"I was..." Dale trailed off. _*Cleaning my room? Is that what I'm supposed to tell her? The truth just won't work.*_ He realized. There was no way out of this one. "Oh go ahead, I wouldn't believe me either." He said, giving up. 

"Believe what?" Asked Tammy, ready to strike. 

"That I was cleaning my room." Said Dale. 

"Come on Dale, you can come up with better than that." Tammy started to bring the pillows down, but then she heard some snickering. She easily noticed it was her favorite chipmunk's laughs. _*Chip thinks this is funny too! How many chipmunks do I have to beat up today!*_ Tammy thought as she looked up to see Chip at the door frame. He quickly ducked away when he saw that she was looking his way. _*What the...?*_ Tammy looked back down at Dale. "You didn't do this, did you?" Tammy said quietly, so Chip couldn't hear. 

"Nope, but I wish I had if you're going to beat me senseless for it." replied Dale. 

"So you really were cleaning your room?" asked Tammy, still unsure. 

"Uh-huh, Chip took my comic books and said I couldn't have them back until I was done." Replied Dale. 

"I think Chip set us up! Come on, grab some pillows, he's hiding in the next room." Ordered Tammy. Dale did as she said, partly because he wanted to get Chip back and partly because he was mad Chip had thought of the trick first. 

Tammy and Dale crept up the other entrance of the room Chip was hiding in. As they did they saw Chip peering out the door again, with a puzzled look on his face. 

"Where did they go? Did she beat him into the ground?" Chip asked himself. This was all they needed. Tammy and Dale both tackled Chip into the main room and started with their two on one pillow fight. Chip didn't stand a chance against the surprise attack. The attack didn't last long, however, as Gadget came into the room. 

"What are you three doing?" Asked Gadget in a mock look of anger. 

"We were... uhhhhh..." Came the stalling reply from all three. 

"The main room is a mess. You weren't pillow fighting, were you?" asked Gadget. 

Tammy quickly jumped up. "They were, Gadget! I was trying to stop them because..." Gadget had picked up a pillow and delivered a blow to Tammy and then started in on Chip and Dale. None of the three stood a chance against the wrath of Gadget. 

After coming in after Tammy, Zipper had quickly headed into the kitchen. A hit from one of the pillows could have sent him across the room. He told Monty what was happening and the two of them sat there at the edge of the room and watched the show. He would tell this story to the other rangers for a long time to come, but one day three of them would not want to hear the story, and Monty would understand why. 


	5. Dinner for 6

Off days come and off days go, the way they always have and always will. After a fun filled day off, the rangers went back to doing what they always do: looking for cases and saving the world. Neither of these came often enough for Chip. He was the first one up, like he always was on the day after their day off. The other rangers, however, got up at their usual times. Chip sat at his usual place with a well read book in his arms. He had reread the book so many of times that no one could have kept up with it. He sat there thinking. _*It would be great if there was a villain who could give me a real challenge. To go one on one with someone who could put me up to a real mental challenge._ Chip stood and put his book down. He slowly walked up to the window. It was a cool cloudy day, it didn't look like it was going to rain. A nice cool day, the way he liked it. 

The other rangers made their way into the main room at their usual times. Gadget came in after an hour in her workshop. Dale came down to the main room, even though he wasn't fully awake, and probably wouldn't be for another hour. Monty and Zipper had been down for awhile and cooking breakfast. Tammy had made her way in, and after finishing her workout and shower, she did what she thought a good detective would do. She turned on the news. 

After all the rangers were ready, they left to look for cases in their usual first stop. Gadget never went with the other rangers to the police station. She always found it more useful to be inventing. Which was good now, because of the addition of a new member to the team, they didn't have enough room in their existing vehicles. Gadget was at work making a new version of the ranger plane that "should" work with no problems. 

The Rescue Rangers all set out for the police station. Chip pointed the ranger plane. Since there was no Gadget in the driver seat, Dale had no interest in riding up front, especially when there was a squirrel there to make Chip squirm and she could do a much better job in the front seat. So, it was Chip and Tammy in the front, and Dale, Monty and Zipper in the back seat. 

"So, are you going to tell me all your super detective ways of finding cases and saving the world, oh fearless leader?" asked a teasing squirrel. 

Chip shifted in his seat. Not sure which he didn't like more, the way this had already gone, or the way he thought it was going to go. "Don't worry, I'll show you everything there is to finding cases." Replied Chip. Dale heard _exactly_ the way Chip had phrased this sentence, and decided to behave the rest of the trip, but first he whispered something to Monty and Zipper, who both snickered and shook their heads in approval. 

"What are you three doing back there?" asked Chip. 

"Nothing, oh fearless leader." Responded the mischievous chipmunk. 

"Never mind, I probably don't want to know what you said." Replied Chip. After that, it wasn't long until the rangers made it to the police station. 

Chip got out of the driver seat of the ranger plane, and Tammy was right behind him. Dale and Monty both jumped into the front seat of the ranger plane, with Dale in the pilot seat. "We'll be off to patrol the city." Responded Dale, as he started the ranger plane back up. 

"What? We're supposed to be showing Tammy how to look for cases at the police station!" replied Chip. 

"No mate, you said _you_ were going to show her how we look for cases." Responded Monty. 

"You two try not to have to much fun!" Replied Dale, at which he started the ranger plane upwards. 

Chip started to grumble at this, he looked over at Tammy. "What's wrong Chipper? Afraid we're going to have too much fun?" she asked. 

"Come on, lets go." Responded Chip after watching Dale leave, at which point he turned around and headed for the rangers usual way into the police station.   
  
  
  
  
  


Dale and Monty began to head away from the police station. 

"Chip seems so mad to have to be stuck working with Tammy." Stated Dale as he looked back down at Chip. 

"I don't reckon I know what's botherin' Chip about working with Tammy. You tease him a lot more than 'er." Replied Monty, also looking back down at Chip and Tammy as Dale took them further away from the police station. 

"Yeah, she's actually fun to be around. She followed me yesterday and I didn't even know she was there. Zipper was with her too! They both surprised me, but Mike knew they were there." Said Dale as he turned the corner and surveyed the surrounding area. 

"Yeah mate, Zip told me about it last night, said th' lass was pretty smart and learned fast. 'xactly the thing I thought about 'er. Zip said that boy was a nice lad. Knew him in high school, did ya?" Responded Monty. 

"Yeah, he was one of our friends we hung out with in high school. He was always getting into trouble. A lot worse trouble than me and Chip got into." Responded Dale. 

"Lots of us got into trouble in school. Just takes some growing up for some folks." Responded Monty as Dale turned another corner.   
  
  
  
  
  


Chip led Tammy down a series of tunnels until they came to just above the ceiling fan. "Ok, lets get down on the fan." He said. Chip landed on the platform. Tammy, however, landed a little too close to the blade of the fan, which sent her flying toward the filing cabinet. Chip quickly grabbed the rope they use to swing down to the desk and went toward the filing cabinet. The rope wasn't long enough to send him exactly where he wanted to go, so he had to wait till the last moment to let go. It still didn't work exactly how he wanted it to. He hit the wall and fell onto the cabinet face first. Tammy had lucked out and landed in a bit of string that had been hanging from the shelf above. She was now hanging upside down with the string around one of her feet, just a little above where Chip had landed. 

"Now Chip, I don't tease you enough for you to try to kill me." Tammy lifted up and put her hands around the string and set her foot free. She flipped backwards and landed on the chipmunk that was about to get up. "And if you do try to kill me, try a little harder." Laughed the squirrel, as she took Chip's hat off his head and put it on her own head, and went toward the desk that was near to them. She slid down the side of the filing cabinet. Chip quickly followed and retrieved his hat after making it to the ground. 

"Well, if you're through playing around, are you ready to begin?" asked Tammy. 

"Ugh. Yes, lets begin." Replied chip, annoyed that Tammy had said exactly the same thing he was about to say. "Usually we sit up there on the ceiling fan and watch the desk. Lucky for us, there wasn't anybody in the room. If there's nobody in the room, we check out the file on the desk." Said Chip. The two of them climbed up on the desk. There on the desk sat a few files. Tammy and Chip looked through a few of them. None of them seemed interesting. 

"What do you if you don't find anything here?" asked Tammy. 

"It's not uncommon for us not to find anything worth looking at. We usually go to the filing cabinets and see if there's anything there, but usually there isn't." The two of them went to the filing cabinet and climbed up the side. Chip kicked open the filing cabinet, which had taken him years of practice to get right. There were hundreds of files in the cabinet. 

"They always put the new files toward the front with the date on the label." Chip pointed to the label. "Here, help me pull up the file." Tammy helped Chip as he wanted. They continued to pull up the first 5 files, which were the only ones that Chip hadn't seen yet. The two of them looked through the files and didn't see anything that seemed to warrant the Rescue Rangers help. 

"How do we get these files back in the drawer? It looks a lot harder to fit them back into place because they are so big and heavy." Asked Tammy. 

"We don't. We leave them up here and they put them up. Whoever finds it is usually saying how lazy the other officers are as he puts them up." Answered Chip. 

"Aren't you lazy?" Tammy said as she and Chip started toward the hole in the ceiling that they had come out of. 

After surveying the area, Dale and Monty had returned to the police station and just had gotten back when Chip and Tammy came out of the building. Both of them got out of the ranger plane. 

"Did ya find anything, Chippa' me lad?" asked Monty. Chip didn't answer the question. He went straight for Dale and the two of them started their arguing at a speed that only acorn lovers could follow. 

"Tammy, ya can understand 'em? What are th' lads saying?" asked Monty. Zipper buzzed his curiosity too. 

"Are too and Am not and lots of name calling. Lets go." Responded Tammy. She, Monty, and Zipper all headed for the Ranger plane. Tammy started it up and waited to see if Chip and Dale would stop their arguing. They didn't. So she started upwards and it wasn't until they were far off the roof top until Chip and Dale noticed. They yelled for the rope ladder. Monty obliged them and soon all the rangers were ready to leave.   
  
  
  
  
  


A few days later, a mouse sat outside of the Rescue Rangers headquarters. He was alone and wearing a pair of blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a blue jean jacket over it. He began to make his way to the ranger headquarters. It wasn't long before he made it to the front door. He knocked on the door. Chip opened it. 

"Uhhh hello uhh, Mike? How did you know where we lived?" asked Chip. 

"I seen it the other day when I came by here and seen Dale. He invited me over here." Responded Mike. 

"Dale didn't tell me, but it's great to see you again. I haven't seen you since high school. Come in." invited Chip. The two of them went inside as Dale and the other rangers except Gadget came into the room. Chip quickly went over to Dale. 

"Why didn't you tell me that you met Mike the other day, you lunkhead?" asked Chip. 

"I was going to tell you, but you sent me up to my room to clean it and set a trap for me. When I came down I was going to tell you but then water spilled all over Tammy and she thought I did it and she attacked me and it was all your fault! After all that I forgot to tell you." Responded Dale very quickly, but everyone was still able to understand him. 

"You should always remember to tell me when you see one of our old friends! How would you feel if I forgot to tell you I saw one of our friends?" Responded Chip, just a little quicker. Dale responded more quickly still, and the argument went to a speed that none except Tammy could understand. 

"They still do this?" asked Mike to Tammy, who was the only person he knew that he could understand. 

"Yeah, they'll argue about anything. They did this in high school, too?" asked the red headed squirrel. 

"Yeah, used to get into it at least once a day, would have all of us late for class because of it. Not that we needed an excuse or anything, we were almost always late for class because of one of Chip or Dale's stunts." Responded mike. 

"You mean Chip wasn't an A student and behaved like a perfect angel?" questioned Tammy. At this point Mike doubled over laughing, which Tammy took as a no. Tammy very quickly made her way and broke up Dale and Chip's argument and started one of her own with Chip, which was just as fast as Chip and Dale argument that just ended. After seeing the look on Tammy's face, Dale decided not to disturb her. He walked over to where Mike was standing next to Monty. 

"What just happened? What are they arguing about?" asked Mike. 

"Chip told Tammy he was a perfect student and would get on to her anytime she slacked off to school. I never told her he wasn't like that. I didn't want her to play around her whole time in high school like we did, and well, she's kinda mad at Chip." Dale responded. 

"I knew th' lad got into way too much trouble now to have been a perfect student in school. I haven't met ya yet lad, but Zip says you're a real nice bloke. Name's Monterey Jack." 

"Glad to meet ya, Dale told me 'bout you the other day when ah' met him." Responded Mike, shaking hands with the a bush mouse twice his size. At that point a blond mouse as tall as Mike came into the room. She was wearing coverall that were smeared with oil. 

"Now Gadgetluv, don't go tellin' me you slept in those oily things." Said Monty to Gadget. 

"Slept? I never sleep before dinner." Responded Gadget. "And who is this? Have you come to have dinner with us?" 

"I'm Mike, an old friend of Chip and Dale's... But dinner? Darlin', it's 10 am." 

"Oh... Then dinner is over, and so is breakfast. Umm... Are you staying for lunch?" asked Gadget. To this Mike could only look at Monty. Monty just grinned and patted him on the shoulder. 

"Sure, sounds great." Responded Mike after looking back at Gadget. _*Have to admit, she is nothing like I thought she would be. Very friendly darling, but doesn't seem aware of anything around her outside of what she is doing. Her eyes Dance with intelligence. Monty's as well, but he's exactly like I figured.*_

Not long afterwards, Chip and Tammy stopped arguing at the speed of light, but their fussing continued for the next two hours, while Mike talked with Gadget, Dale and Monty. Monty was very happy, as always when a mouse came to visit for lunch, to have someone who loved cheese as much as he did. While Gadget liked cheese, it wasn't on the same level as other mice, or anywhere near that of the legendary Monterey Jack. 

The three mice sipped on cheese sauce, while Dale drank acorn tea and listened to the fight between Tammy and Chip continue onward. 

It wasn't long before Tammy and Chip quit arguing. Tammy wasn't mad at Chip anymore, but she wanted it to seem like she was. Soon all the rangers and Mike sat down at the table. 

The rangers and their guest sat down at the table. Zipper sat on Monty's shoulder like he always did, to his right was Mike, and next was Dale, who was sitting next to his favorite female mouse, who always seemed to find herself sitting in-between two chipmunks, and today was no exception. To Chip's right was Tammy, and the circle was completed with Monty to Tammy's right. 

"Now Chip, we have a guest here today, so you won't be allowed to eat with your hands from a bowl that is on the floor, like you usually do." Responded Tammy in a miss manners attitude. 

"Wait, I've ne..." Chip did not get to finish his statement. 

"Now Chip, it is very rude to interrupt someone when they're talking. Have you not ever read a manners book?" Scowled Tammy in her new manners attitude. 

"No I haven't read one of those useless things." Responded Chip very quickly. 

"Well, I will have to teach you manners today." Responded Miss Manners Tammy. 

At this point, Mike leaned over to Monty. "Are they always like this?" 

"Yeah lad, They always act like this, sometimes worse." Responded The Australian traveler. 

Chip began to reach for the sliced acorns. "Now Chip, it is very rude to reach over someone's plate. If you would like something from the table, please make a request for it, and it will be passed to you. This is the way civilized people act." Responded the squirrel with authority. 

Chip growled at this. "Could you PLEASE pass me the sliced Acorns, Please!" 

"See, acting polite is easier than you thought." Tammy picked up the sliced acorns and handed them to Monty. 

"What are you doing?" asked Chip. 

"When you pass food, you must pass it to the person on your right. It will then make it's way around the table until it makes it's way to the person it started to." Responded Tammy, to which Chip only grumbled. 

Gadget giggled at this, having read a few manner books in her spare time, and knew that you always passed to the left, and Tammy had said the right just to annoy Chip. 

"Luv, could you pass the cheese bites? Asked Monty as Dale had passed the sliced acorns to gadget. 

"Certainly, Monterey." Tammy politely responded as she passed the cheese bites to Chip as Gadget passed the sliced acorns to Chip. 

"Arn'te you supposed to be passing to the right?" asked Chip. 

"If you had read a manners book instead of your sil'y Sureluck Jones books, then you would know that you pass to the right on the first time and to the left on the second, and what are you doing? You shouldn't be getting any sliced acorns when you should be passing this around!" Tammy quickly took the acorns from Chip and handed the cheese bites to him. She sprinkled something on to the last one as she then passed it to Monty. "Don't worry, Chip, the acorns will make their way back to you. Surely Chip, you should put others before yourself." Miss manners looked away in mock disgust before she stared to grin in Monty's direction. 

The now laced sliced acorn made it's way around the table. Since anybody who wanted one had already gotten one, the acorn remained untouched. It made its way back to Chip in a very short time. Chip took the plate, looked over to Tammy to see if he was doing anything impolite or rude and as politely as he could, as not risk the wrath of Miss Manners once more, took the last sliced acorn off the plate, worried that Miss Manners would complain about him taking the last one. As no looks came from the squirrel in question, Chip started to eat, but after one bite which was too big, his eyes figuratively turned red and steam came out of his ears, he jumped up from the table and ran into the kitchen. With no walls in-between the kitchen and dining room everything could be seen from where the rangers were sitting. 

Everyone was surprised except one guilty squirrel, who quickly stood up. "Chip, I am surprised at you! If you wanted to leave the table, you should ask to be excused, stand up slowly, back up and then push your chair in, not run around the room like a pre-historic chipmunk carrying a club made out of a cat bone!" Lectured Tammy. "And you really shouldn't act like that! You could insult the chef!" Chip was now drinking more water than he had the entire previous day. 

Mike leaned over to Monty. "Have ya'll considered getting your own show? I think the Rescue Ranger Comedy Hour would do nice." Told Mike. TO which Monty gave a gentle, yet still rough to a mouse half his size, nudge with his elbow as he laughed. 

Soon Chip made his way back to the table. Since Tammy had her revenge and Chip was watching her much more carefully now, the rest of lunch went as it usually did. Afterwards, each of the rangers went their own ways. Tammy and Gadget made their way to the main room, with Chip and Dale fighting to sit beside gadget. Mike followed Monty into the kitchen and continued their conversation. 

It wasn't long until both Mike and Dale became bored with where they were, Dale because he did not get to sit beside Gadget and Mike because he was tired of hearing about magicians in France. Mike began for the living room to see the other rangers, and Dale headed for the kitchen to ask something of Mike. Neither knew the other was coming and ran head first into each other, and both the mouse and the chipmunk wound up on their back rubbing their heads. 

"Ughhh..." Mike sat up very quickly and looked to see what had just hit him. He relaxed quickly to see it was just Dale. "This reminds me of when we played football and we ran head first into each other." 

"Hey, I was trying to catch the ball!" responded Dale as he sat up, much slower than Mike. 

"We were on the same team!" Mike got to his feat and gave dale a hand to help him get to his feet. 

"Hey Mike, I want to talk to you." said Dale. 

"Well, start ah talking." Responded the southerner. 

"Can we go outside and talk?" Asked Dale. 

"Sure, don't see why not." Responded Mike. The chipmunk led the mouse out through the front door. They walked down the runway until they were a good distance from the headquarters. Dale stopped walking and Mike went to the near by rail and sat upon it. "So, what's up?" 

"Could you teach me how to get out of straight jackets and other cool magic things?" asked the chipmunk. 

"Did you have to bring me all the way out here for that?" asked Mike. 

"I want to keep it a secret. I want to know some cool stuff that will help me on a case!" responded Dale happily. 

"And I think you just want to impress that blond darlin' in there." Countered Mike. Dale would have said something back, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Mike got up from where he was sitting and put his hand on Dale shoulder. "Yeah I'll teach ya, and I won't even tell anybody about it. Now lets go back inside before someone guess about your big secret." Responded Mike with a little laugh. 


	6. what the

I sit alone in the main room of the magic shop, as we like to call it. I don't know why, it's not a shop, maybe because magic warehouse sounds stupid. I hold a sketch book, I'm trying to draw magic tricks. I don't know why I do this. I never come up with anything, if I ever do, I do it while I'm out, and even then it isn't much of a trick. Coming up with tricks is always Kary's thing. She is the one who told me to try this. I think I listen to her too much. That's when my best friend K.C. comes into the room. 

"Hey, idiot." says my best friend as I lay with my back on the couch. 

I don't look up. I just respond, "I got your idiot." 

"You _are_ my idiot." He comes back with. I had seen this coming, one of us always says this. Not because we don't like each other, we're really like brothers. We do it because we both have a weird sense of humor. 

I jump up from the couch and land right in front of him. He wasn't far away, so it wasn't hard. K.C. stands a bit taller than me, not much but it is noticeable. Not that that matters to me, but it is true. I look at him with my evil funny grin and say. "Hey, I have this great trick. It involves impaling you on a bow, killing you and then bringing you back to life. I don't have the bring back to life part down yet, but lets try it and see if I figure it out as I go along." It's just a normal day in magic land. 

He looks at me and his grin is gone. "You got a phone call, 'Eminem'. I think it's from old friends." He says. Neither one of us likes it when my old friends call. This must have been the reason he set himself up so easy for me. 

"Aight." I say as I walk into the other room to get the phone. "Yeah?" I ask when I pick it up. 

"Tim's in the hospital. You know which one." A voice says. And the line goes dead. I know this guy, I've known him for years. I wouldn't be who I am today, that is why I hate him so much. But I could be dead somewhere, so that is why I love him so much. And I could be weak, that is why I respect him so much. 

I walk into the main room. "I'm going out for a bit, try not to set the place on fire... again." I said without looking back at my best friend. I never tell him what I am doing when I have to see my old friends, he doesn't want to know, and I like him too much to tell him. 

"I'm not making any promises." Responds my best friend. As I leave I hear Kary come in the room. I shut the door and wait a second. These two either get along great, or start to kill each other. I can't have my best friends kill each other. That's my job. 

I hear a voice, its Kary's. She asks "He's going to see old friends again, isn't he?" 

K.C. just responds "Yeah, sweets." He only calls her sweets when he's not hitting on her. 

Kary's voice starts up again. "When is he going to stop going through this?" This is all I hear. All I care about is these two not killing each other. That's my job. As long as that doesn't happen, then I'm happy. I don't want to spy on them. 

They are both very funny. K.C. really likes Kary, and he thinks she either doesn't like him or is playing hard to get. Neither of these are true. Kary actually likes K.C. a lot, but she doesn't want to get too close to him. 

You see, K.C. doesn't keep girlfriends very long. I can't criticize because I can't get them to begin with, so he's one up on me. But Kary doesn't like this behavior. She's scared because she thinks he'll treat her the same way. I know this because Kary talks to me a lot. I listen to her because she will ask me for advice, and then tell me how smart I am for telling her exactly what she wants to hear. I like feeling smart. 

But these two and their love lives aren't my problems at the moment. My friend Tim is in the hospital. There are about a hundred reasons that any of my 'old friends' could be in the hospital, so I'm not going to guess. But that is not the major problem. Tim I can handle. All my old friends, I can handle, it's the one who called that is the problem. A problem I don't want to face, and because God loves me so much, I'm already at the hospital. 

One of the doctors here is on the take, and he gets creative with the paper work if the price is right. That is why we came here, and why they still come here now. I know, because I've been laid up here before. That was a long time ago, but not long enough. 

After talking to the young chipmunk girl behind the counter, I quickly make my way to Tim's room. In front of Tim's room is two sets of benches. Each bench has three seats. There are 5 people against the wall away from Tim's room, and one person sitting by himself on the wall of Tim's room. I know all six of these people. None of the five are the kind you bring home to mama, and the one on the left scares the five on the right. I sit next to him. 

"You talk too D@#n much, Jimmy." I say and look straight ahead at the five who are now in front of me. All of them move against the wall a little further, like that is possible, even the rat that's twice Jimmy's size. 

Jimmy doesn't move. I'm the only one he wouldn't hit for saying that, and for sitting beside him. He hates that, which is why I did it. A long time ago he was my best friend. I met him a long time ago, I had just made my way to New York. I saw him and most of the people who now sit or stand in front of me. He said, what's your name, I told him my name was Mike. He said where you from Mike, Alabama, and pushed me. I stood back up and punched him in the face, knocking him onto his back. He spit out a tooth. The big rat in front of me laughed at him. Jimmy stood up and knocked one of the big rat's teeth out, too. I stood up and hit Jimmy again. I don't like bullies, I never have. Whenever I saw a bully picking on someone, I would beat him up. It's no big deal for me to get into a fight. Maybe if I had a father to tell me not to fight, it would be a big deal, but I don't have a father, or a mother. The first thing I remember is being in an orphanage. Lots of bullies for me to beat up there, so I was always in fights. 

Anyway, after that, Jimmy got up and looked at me, he took a swing at me and connected. I lost a tooth. We fought for the next ten minutes. After we finished adding more bruises to each other, Jimmy asked me to join them. I did, and I was there until two years ago. 

So now I look at the guys in front of me. I ask them, "What's wrong with Tim?" 

The large rat, who cowers in Jimmy's shadow, says, "He O.D.ed." and then nothing more. I get up and then walk into Tim's room. I sit beside his bed and look straight down, my arms are crossed and my eyes are closed. He's sitting there and looks at me. It takes him a little while to look at me, I don't know how long because I can't keep track of time well, and I really can't when I'm pissed. 

He looks at me and says "It was an accident, I was at a party and flirting with some girl, and I just kept doing more and more until it was too much and then I was in here when I woke up." 

I don't move, but I do answer him. I say, "I know you are just thinking out loud to see how F#$k!*g stupid that sounds, that way you won't say it to me because you know I am nowhere near that stupid." I stand up and look at him. "I don't think for one second everyone would be out there if this was that simple. I know you better than that." I walk away from him and look out the window. "If you drive some fast remote control car and wrap it around a tree, I'll be at your funeral. If you do something really stupid and make your way into the Darwin Awards, I'll F#@&ing be there. If you screw a girl and get something ajax won't wash off, I'll be there. But if you die from an overdose, I'll wait 'till the funeral's over so I can dance on your grave." I walk out of the room. 

I like Tim. He was always the best out of our little group, but I don't like what he does for fun, or the fact that he wants out of life. I hate people who try to end their life. I can tell by the way everyone out here is, none of them like what happened, either. I sit down beside Jimmy again, this time on the other side. I sit there for a long time, I don't know how long, I'm terrible at keeping track of time. No one says anything the whole time. It's a little awkward with Tim in the other room, and they don't see me much anymore. 

It's not long before I get tired of this. I stand up and walk back into Tim's room. I was too hard on him, but that's not the reason I'm going in there. I want to make sure he is alright. I sit beside his bed and begin to talk with him. Tim wasn't part of "old friends" when I joined all those years ago. He joined about 4 years ago. We were best friends from the start, because the two of us weren't like the others. But Tim changed some. He is still not the same as the rest, but not very different, either. 

It's not long before I get tired of this and want to go home. I tell Tim goodbye and walk out the door. As I walk by 'old friends', I look toward Jimmy, who is still sitting alone, and say, "Nice talking to you." None of them say anything, not even the fearless leader. 

I walk back home, not really surprising, because I like to walk everywhere. When I get home I see K.C. sitting on the couch. He doesn't even look up at me. I should have been insulted by now, but there's nothing from him, so I know something's wrong. 

I look at K.C. and say "Whatcha down about? Did they outlaw family marriages and now you can never tell your cousin how much you love her?" This is just how we are, we say stupid things that make little to no sense to each other all day long. 

"There's something wrong with Kary." Came from my best friend. I wait for the punch line. I wait awhile until it becomes eerie silence. 

So I tell my friend, "Either you forgot the punch line or I wised up and stopped listening to you." 

K.C. gets up slowly. If he would have gotten up fast I would have gotten ready to be tackled, but now I know for sure that he is serious. After he walks to me, he says "I'm serious, Mike. She won't talk to anybody. She's been moping around really bad today. She started to talk and then went crying to her room. Could you go talk to her? You're the only one she'll talk to." 

I don't pick on him, I know how he feels about her. So I just tell him, "I'll go talk to her." I do want to know what is going on, she is very close to me, and a darling to begin with. If I had a sister, and she just happened to be a chipmunk, she would probably be Kary, but hopefully not with a yankee accent. 

I walk down the hall till I get to her room. I knock on her door and say her name. She says "Come in 'Emi'." Her door wasn't locked, it never is during the day, but I'm afraid she would hurt my favorite neck if I just opened the door without knocking. 

I open the door. To my right is a chipmunk girl a little younger than me, maybe just a couple of years, I really don't know because she won't tell anyone her age, and I'm afraid to ask because she might have to kill me if I knew that valuable information. 

Kary is sitting on her bed with her back to the wall. She has her knees up to her chest and her arms are wrapped around her knees. She is looking down at the floor. If she is leaving, I don't think she likes the idea. She is wearing a pair of blue jeans and a red shirt, she has long hair, quite a pretty girl actually, which may be the only reason K.C. likes her, I have never known him to be very deep. 

I go and sit next to her on the bed, when I do she lays her head on my shoulder. This is pretty normal for us. It's always been like this. When I met her a year ago or so, it was one of the few times that I had a girlfriend. I used to sit up and talk with her, ask her advice, which usually got me into lots of trouble because I never remembered all of it. She would talk to me and ask me advice, I'm not sure why, but she did and I did my best not to say something stupid. It has been like that ever since. 

She looks at me and says "Mom is very sick, the doctors don't know what is wrong with her. I have to go be with her, to help her." I put my arm around her and I look to her and say "I've been wondering what's been bothering you for the last couple of days." 

She throws her arms around me and buries her head into my chest and says (well, really muffled, but I can understand her), "You could tell?" 

I say back to her, "Yeah, darlin', I can tell when something is botherin' ya, but why did ya wait this long to tell us?" My jacket is getting wet from her tears, I can tell she has been crying for awhile. 

"I was worried how everyone would take me leaving." She told me. 

I look to the closest thing to a sister that I have ever had. "Of course we'll miss ya honey, but we won't love ya any less, especially me. Although we might if you don't go take care of your mom." 

She looks up and says, "You mean it?" 

And I say, "Yeah, sweetie." After a little bit, she gets up and walks to her dresser, She starts to clean her face. A lot of her makeup has run while she cried. I'm not sure why she wears makeup, I think she looks better without it. I have told her this before, but she didn't listen to me, and now is not a time to tell her again. 

Being that she is the master of makeup... or is it the mistress of makeup? It probably is, but Mistress just sounds weird. Either way she knows her makeup, so it doesn't take long for her to get ready. 

After she's ready, we walk out into the main room to talk with everyone. It was two days later that she left to see her mom. I think her mom will get better. She is a nice woman. She says how sweet I am and such a good guy for Kary to hang around with. She's a terrible judge of character.   
  
  
  
  
  


Wednesday was the Rangers day off, so every Wednesday the Rangers went their own way. Today, however, was a little different than normal. Dale wanted to go see his friend Mike and didn't want anyone to know about his new training. Today he was up before Chip, which only happens on the days that he came to bed right as Chip was going to sleep. He quickly got up and headed into the kitchen. Even in a hurry, Dale still had to have his cereal. 

Tammy had found that her training throughout the school year was for nothing. She was always the first one up, which means she just wait longer for everyone else to get up. But old habits are hard to break. She walked into the kitchen to get a snack before her work out, and there was Dale. _*I don't think he's been up all night, he seems too awake. I wonder why he's up so early.*_ Being part red squirrel from her father's side and being mischievous to begin with, and also using detective training as an excuse no one would believe, Tammy decided to find out. She stayed behind the corner and Dale got up and put his dishes in the sink. He didn't wash them because he was too likely to break them and Monty would much prefer to wash dishes than to repair them. Tammy pushed against the wall and into a shadow, and grabbed her tail and pulled it close to her so she would have the least chance of being seen. Dale started for the door and as he was about to open the door, he looked back. Tammy hoped she was in the shadow enough to not be seen. Dale then walked outside. Tammy followed slowly, remembering Zipper's advice about keeping a distance when following somebody. She hadn't even gotten out of the shadows when the door came flying open and Dale jumped in. 

"Ah ha!" came from Dale as he pointed into the room. This scared Tammy very badly. She was sure she was caught. Dale looked around and didn't see anybody. "Guess nobody was following me." And then Dale headed out the door. Tammy almost fell in the floor laughing at this, but she knew that wouldn't be very good for her stealth training. She headed out the door slowly. She was very careful not to make any noise. As she looked out she saw that Dale had already made it to the ground. Tammy sat on the branch and watched the way Dale went. _*It looks like Dale is headed for the city.*_ Tammy saw that it would be a long way before Dale came to any trees, and if she waited that long she might lose him, so she headed down the back of the tree to keep from being seen by Dale. She quickly made it down to the ground. She quickly made her way around the tree and began to look for Dale. _*Where did he go, he can't be that fast.*_ Tammy looked around for a bit. _*There you are.*_ Dale had made his way to the closest bush and was a little hard to see from where Tammy was. Tammy stayed behind Dale far enough where Dale wouldn't be able to see her, not that she needed to, Dale had no idea where she was. Tammy quickly followed Dale much the same way she and Zipper had followed Mike and Dale just a week before. It wasn't long until Dale had come to the edge of the city. 

_*He's going to see Mike again. That has to be it, that's the only thing down this alley. Why? Oh well, I'll find out later.*_ As she waited on the edge of the forest, she could tell that it would be harder to follow him now. The alley looked more cleared out than before. _*How am I supposed to follow him now?*_ She wondered. Then Tammy noticed the small building on the right. A drain pipe hung from the side. _*That looks good.*_ Tammy quickly made for the side of the building and climbed up the side of the drain pipe. She quickly made her way to the first floor windowsill. She began to run along side it. She didn't have to worry about being seen by Dale now. As Tammy ran, she quickly overtook Dale and made it to the area he was going to first. There was a drain pipe beside the small door that led to the magic shop. _*I wonder if that will work?*_ Tammy walked up to it, and this one, like the one that she had climbed up was twice her size. It could very easily conceal her from any red nosed chipmunks she was hiding from. Tammy began to slide down the drainpipe very slowly so that she wouldn't make any noise. She made it down to the bottom before Dale made it to the door. _*Good, this way I'll be able to hide and surprise him.*_ Dale walked up to the door and looked back the way he came, this was all Tammy needed. She quickly jumped from the drain pipe and landed on Dale, sending them both to the ground. 

"Gotcha! Like the panther stocks her prey, I slightly crept up on you. You never saw it coming. I'm the master of stealth." Boasted Tammy as she got off her prey. "Now, what is so secretive about coming to see Mike that you didn't want the rest of us to know about it?" 

"Well, I was wanting to... uhhh..." Dale couldn't come up with one of his genius ideas. He had been caught and couldn't think of anything that would make sense. 

"You were going to have Mike teach you magic, weren't you! Why didn't you want the rest of us to know?" 

"Because I'm tired of getting tied up and not being able to do anything. I want to be able to contribute to the team!" replied Dale. 

"No, you just want to be able to impress Gadget." Replied Tammy. Dale would have responded, if he had any idea how to counter this obvious observation, but the door they were standing next to came flying open. Two mice, each caring a staff came out, each seemed a bit surprised to see the chipmunk and the squirrel. 

"Oh, it's just you, I thought there was someone we didn't want here." Replied Mike, with K.C. standing at his side. They both lowered their staves. 

"Didn't you remember you said I could come today?" asked Dale. 

"Sorry, had a bit on my mind the last few days. Come on in." Replied Mike. The four of them went inside. 

"Wowzers, can you two really fight with those?" asked an excited Dale and a giggle came from Tammy as she heard this. 

"Yes we can." Responded K.C. 

"Oh, is that what ya call whatcha been doing, huh?" responded the mischevious southerner. 

"I do alright." countered K.C., at which point Mike used his staff and knocked the staff out of K.C.'s hands and barely caught it before it hit the ground. Dale stood back and was amazed, Tammy just giggled some more at Dale's and K.C. reaction. 

"Why did you do that? You still don't think it's my fault that she left?" asked K.C. 

"She didn't leave because of you. She liked you a lot actually. I really do think she had family problems." Responded Mike. 

"What? She liked me? Why didn't you tell me? Why are you telling me now?" asked K.C. 

"Well, rock star, I didn't tell you because she told me not too, and I'm telling ya now because all my promises have been kept, and I don't want you moping around thinking I'm mad at ya every time I pick on you. We've been acting like this long before Kary and we'll probably be doing it long after we're dead." Responded Mike as he put his hand on K.C.'s shoulder to let him know for sure that all was forgiven. 

"Who's Kary?" Asked the curious squirrel. 

"One of the other magicians. She had her own trick and helped out another magician by letting him saw her in half. That last part isn't a big deal, but her own trick was a major one in the show." Answered K.C. 

"Hey, we could help." Dale said as he looked toward Tammy with an evil look in his eye. 

"Oh, your not getting me to lay down in a box and cut me into two pieces!" responded Tammy. 

"Actually, ya would stand up in a box and get cut into 3 pieces." Answered Mike. 

"Ok, I'll help if you want me too." Responded Tammy who stopped pretending to be mad and was excited about being up on stage. 

K.C. looked over at Mike. "Do you think we should?" 

"Don't see any reason why not. They are rescue rangers after all, can't trust many folks more than them." Mike looked over at Dale and Tammy. "Are ya'll sure ya want to do this? It takes a lot of practice and hard work. And the next show is only 2 weeks away. You would have to practice just about everyday." 

"Yes." responded both of the rangers. 

"Well, you better explain the rules to them first. I have some things to take care of. See you later." K.C. said, as he left through the door that Tammy and Dale had just come through. 

"Alright, what I'm about to tell ya, can't go to anyone, not even your friends. Alright?" asked Mike. Both of the rangers agreed to the secrecy. 


End file.
